The Eternals (2021)- Maggy's Movie Reviews

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Ultra Magnus
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The Eternals (2021)- Maggy's Movie Reviews

Post by Ultra Magnus »

No.

Just no.

So much fucking no.

A couple of weeks ago I called Thor the Dark World and Shang-Chi low tier Marvel films. I admit I had no clue what I was talking about and fully wish to apologize to those two shining examples of fine cinema.

As for the Eternals....

Do not spend money on this film. Watch it for free if you must. If you are a physical media MCU completionist, I am sure this will be included in a multipack upgrade set at some point, and you should wait for that. $5 bin is too much money.

The end credit scene is about as "We don't know where we are going with this yet, so let us pretend to tie stuff together" as the Shang Chi one was.

When it is available for you to watch for free, and you are in need of a nap, by all means. Otherwise, Nope.

I am sorry if I have been vague in my opinion of this movie. I am not sure I painted a clear enough picture of how I felt about it. Feel free to discuss below or ask questions.
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Re: The Eternals (2021)- Maggy's Movie Reviews

Post by Time Traveller »

Daaaaaamnnn. I haven't watched any MCU stuff since Endgame, and it sounds more and more like I've made the right choice. Could it be that there's just too much power level creep, and now nothing can really make sense without a bunch of poor storytelling elements, retconning, and other such forced garbage?
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Re: The Eternals (2021)- Maggy's Movie Reviews

Post by Ultra Magnus »

Okay. With Shang-Chi it is a case of them having to retcon an expectation subversion while relying on a character that was an answer to not getting the proper license (the Kung Fu tv show) and instead having to rely on a character that was the embodiment of the "Yellow Menace" (the evil Fu Manchu). So, Iron Man 3 tried to distance the company from the racist implications, and Shang Chi had to try to embrace but overcome them. So, a lot of the film is just struggling with that issue instead of focusing on the story itself. That included erasing the prior distancing. So that is what made that particular film kinda meh. They could not go all out on the story for a new character as they had to clean up a lot of messes to present him at all. The character has promise in the future, but too much working against him going in.

So, what went wrong with The Eternals?

Okay. Kirby liked to switch companies and double dip on the same properties over and over again. For instance, Thanos and Darkseid are (for all intents and purposes) are the same character. The Eternals is a knock off of an already somewhat unpopular idea of his called The New Gods. Neither the New Gods nor the Eternals has been embraced by the comics fans, and very few characters have survived for long from either. Mister Miracle, Darkseid and a handful of others are the only ones from The New Gods that have survived intact. For the most part, no Eternals have been able to build a fan base. So, we have MCU trying to drill into a group of characters with little popularity to begin with and trying to make them cool. It worked with Guardians, but that has almost nothing to do with the property and a lot to do with Sean Gunn. GotG in the movies barely resemble their comics counterparts. But, GotG were important in advancing the overall plot as audiences were not familiar with Thanos. I heard multiple people ask "Why is red skull in space?" after the end credits scene from Avengers 2. So, that was a necessary film. Maybe they are doing the same with The Eternals?

I do not see it as a power creep thing. There is definitely room for cosmic stories in the MCU. But, they are trying to convert problematic properties as they have burned through a lot of their more popular stuff. Add to that the fact that they are still holding back on Fantastic Four and X-Men (due to previous mishandling by other studios) and you are not left with much.

I see this more as a flogging of a dead horse, riding out their previous successes, and cashing in those last little bits of "not Spider-man" excitement. In a period where they should be focusing on their good properties, they are throwing everything they have against the wall and hoping anything will stick a la GotG.

I would recommend continue holding off until we get more into the Midnight Sons characters (Moon Knight, Ghost Rider, Blade.... I will let you know my thoughts on Morbius), or until we have more activity on our not being used characters right now.

As is we are relying on a formula and not the characters.
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